Vrana gets 1st goal for Blues in win against Sharks

ST. LOUIS --Jakub Vrana's first goal with the St. Louis Blues broke a tie in the third period in a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Vrana, who was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings on March 3, made it 3-2 at 2:53 when he knocked in a rebound off the shin pad of Erik Karlsson at the right post.
"I saw [Pavel Buchnevich] make a nice pass there to [Kasperi Kapanen]," Vrana said. "I was driving [to] the net and the puck ended up right there. At that point, I just try to find a little spot there through the goalie and the net to bang it in.
"I think around the net like that in tight, you just put like a soft [shot] around the pad or something."

Tomas Hertl thought he tied it 3-3 at 9:08 when he deflected a Fabian Zetterlund point shot, but a video review determined his stick was above the height of the crossbar.
"That looked a little high," St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington said. "You could tell in the guy's reaction. Maybe a little better acting could have sold it, but I think he knew."
Robert Thomas scored a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a pass by Brandon Saad from behind the net at 15:02 for the 4-2 final.
Thomas also had an assist, and Buchnevich had two assists for the Blues (28-31-5), who are 2-6-2 in their past 10 games, including a 6-3 win in San Jose on March 2. Binnington made 32 saves for his first win since Feb. 16 (1-5-2).
"There's really good signs of good things, but I'd like to see more," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "I'm maybe too demanding, but like tonight, I just want to see more urgency and intensity at the start of a game. I can go back to a couple other games, I see a lot of good stuff. But I'm going to demand more and I want to see more."

Karlsson scored, and Alexander Barabanov had two assists for the Sharks (19-35-12), who have lost 10 of their past 12 (2-9-1). Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.
"I liked our game in a lot of ways," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "Again, our mistakes were too big and ended up in the back of our net. We weren't able to capitalize on any power plays (0-for-4) and they get a big power-play goal. That was the end of the game.
"It's disappointing because we did some good things, but a couple of big breakdowns on their goals cost us."
The Sharks thought they took a 1-0 lead at 4:49 of the first period when Steven Lorentz wrapped the puck around and Evgeny Svechnikov jammed at the rebound. But a video review determined the puck did not completely cross the goal line when Binnington made a glove save.
"I thought it was in, to be honest," Binnington said. "But I was pumped when it wasn't."

Karlsson did give San Jose a 1-0 lead at 10:23 when he scored from the right circle after receiving a pass from Barabanov.
Torey Krug tied it 1-1 at 12:31. After Thomas stripped the puck from Svechnikov at St. Louis' blue line, he passed to the trailer Krug for the snap shot from the left circle. It was his first goal in 24 games (Dec. 1).
Sammy Blais gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 10:06 of the second period. William Eklund could not handle a pass by Karlsson at St. Louis' blue line, and Colton Parayko dove to poke the puck forward to Blais, who scored on a breakaway.
Hertl tied it 2-2 at 14:31. After Calle Rosen turned the puck over inside the Blues zone to Barabanov, he passed to Hertl, who scored blocker side from the high slot.
"It's always nice to score a goal," Hertl said. "But I still try to win the game every night. It's nice to finally have some chances and score some goals. I just have to keep working."
NOTES: Buchnevich has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak. ... Karlsson has 83 points (20 goals, 63 assists) in 66 games this season, surpassing his NHL career high set in 2015-16 as a member of the Ottawa Senators. He is the second defenseman in NHL history to have eight or more seasons between 20-goal seasons (21 in 2014-15), joining Mathieu Schneider, who had an 11-year gap (20 goals in 1993-94 and 21 in 2005-06). ... Rosen had three blocked shots in 14:02 of ice time after being a healthy scratch for six games. … Kahkonen has lost four straight and is 0-6-1 in his past seven starts. … Blais has three goals in 13 games since being reacquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 9. He did not score in 40 games with the Rangers this season.